Following a glimpse of global harmony thanks to Pokémon Go, it's undeniable that the monster collecting franchise is about as ubiquitous video games around. The iconic Pikachu is just as famous as Mickey Mouse, if not more so. The persistent frenzy around card prices guarantees near-daily Pokemon headlines. You'd be difficult to find a pocket monster game that didn't sell at least a couple million copies. Even, unofficial Pokémon games achieve popularity annually.
Yet despite that ubiquity and popularity, there are still Pokémon games that are totally overlooked. These are titles that failed to receive their fair shake, or were buried by the excitement of the core series. They're Pokémon games stuck on doomed platforms or services, or were early forays onto different formats. They're often also Pokémon games that might have flourished if they ever got sequels or contemporary re-releases. With these criteria in mind, we won't be offering just one more recommendation for Pokemon Conquest or the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon series. We're going beneath the surface.
Nevertheless, you may already know about these Pokémon games. So, before rearranging your glasses and writing 'Actually,' we can all acknowledge that these are Pokémon games for people with refined tastes, shall we?
Pokémon Ranch: The Chill Precursor
An excessive number of Pokémon games focus on the combat aspect of the series, and far too few of them focus on the everyday aspects that would come with owning a pet. Sure, there are minor mechanics like these in recent entries—players may pet, and feed your monsters in camps. However, I'm longing for a Pokémon game more in the style of Nintendogs or The Sims.
My Pokémon Ranch (2008) for the Wii is not that game. The downloadable-only title is best seen as the precursor to Pokemon Home; that is, as a repository to store monsters from different games. Reviews from its release said Ranch was a bad if not truly ugly game. I'm not here to argue against these claims, but it behooves me to say Ranch might be the closest we've come to a everyday life Pokémon game.
True to its title, the game is set on a ranch where your personal Miis—imagine this—just relax with your Pokémon pals. The interactions with Pokémon were basic, and a lot of the draw was observing what your monsters might do when not forced into cockfighting. In a just world, Pokémon Ranch would have been the start of a wonderful franchise built on the daily joys of coexisting with a tiny companion. But since The Pokémon Company can collect a fee for Pokémon Home now, I'm guessing we will never see a Pokémon Ranch game developed to its fullest potential. I'd say 'help us, Pokémon Pokopia!' but I also know that the upcoming Switch exclusive is as much a puzzler as it is a life sim.
Ranch came out well before Stardew Valley kicked off the enduring trend of cozy games. It was before the rise of passive games, and the Let's Play normalization of viewing games you aren't actively controlling. Most people never realized that Ranch's concept to watch your critters as much as you play with them didn't mask a lack of substance. In actuality, Ranch's meticulous design was so extraordinary, there's a Twitch stream focused on running the game continuously. The streamer who operates the channel states that, after nearly two decades of experiencing the game, he even now has not seen everything that is in it. Recognition for Pokémon Ranch: nobody knew what to do with you in 2008.
Pokémon Duel: The Tactical Tabletop Game Lost
Are you aware that Pokémon once had an licensed tabletop game with miniatures? Pokemon Duel was the 2016 attempt to digitize the physical experience in a more accessible form. Duel was also, sadly, one of Pokémon's earliest ventures into the world of free-to-play phone games. Duel had the trappings of a gacha game where players could pay to win—and there was incentive to do so, given the lengthy grind for new pieces.
All of these poor design choices masked a sad truth: Pokémon Duel was an superb strategy game with Duel today. "I can’t express how much I adored and miss this game," one YouTube comment reads, seven years after Duel's servers were pulled. "Honestly I think this game was better than TCG Pocket in terms of depth, accessibility, design, and content in general," another commenter declared. "I truly believe if it launched now people would be playing it more than GO and Pocket together."
Unfortunately, Duel's early release was plagued with connectivity problems. Bugs, alongside Duel's predatory business model, gave people little reason to return. Should a revival occur, The Pokémon Company chose to resurrect this franchise, I'm still not certain things would play out differently. The unusual board structure made for a great strategic challenge for the few folks who played Duel, but that board is also a daunting visual mess.
Pokemon: Magikarp Jump: The Silly Gem
Wow, why don't more Pokémon games loosen up a little and have some fun? Magikarp Jump (2017) was a rare instance of The Pokémon Company approving a game with a premise so silly, it was bordering on shitpost. And when we're dealing with a franchise where trainers venture forth with a team of useless monsters who simply cannot do anything, it's surprising we don't have more Pokémon games that poke fun at themselves.
In Magikarp Jump, the player is charged with breeding the ultimate version of the infamous fish. This isn't about a Magikarp that can kick your butt. These are 'Magikarp raised to enter competitions to see who can flop the highest. One drawback is how Magikarp Jump, like many phone games, forces the player to wait before they can train their Magikarp further. But it is clear throughout the experience that the developers loved and understood the community love around Magikarp.
Nowhere was this more evident than in Jump's brutal random occurrences, where your Magikarp was just as likely to raise its stats as it was to get eaten by a Pidgeotto. Beyond the clever dialogue, Magikarp Jump also experimented with other things one might wish the mainline games would do, like offering a diverse range of the same type of monster. I know it's not practical for any Pokémon game to have dozens of colorings and patterns for a roster of over a thousand creatures, as Magikarp Jump does... but we can hope.
Magikarp Jump was not a especially complex or profound game, but the seeds of brilliance were there. Sharply written events with outrageous outcomes that forever alter how you can train a companion also describe the excellent Mewgenics. It's worth noting: Mewgenics will likely be in the conversation when Game of the Year season arrives.
Given numerous mainline entries and derivative titles, chances are that I didn't mention that one Pokémon game you absolutely adore but contend that too few people played. It's acknowledged that some people remember games like Pokémon Ranger or Pokemon Pinball with affection despite argu
